AVM Murugan, the eldest son of A.V.Meyyappa Chettiar, passed away here today due to a heart attack. He is 77. His body will be brought to AVM studios by 1 pm for the public and industry bigwigs are expected to pay homage.

The septuagenarian is survived by his wife Ranjani, his son Karthik and daughters Angayarkanni and Latha.

In Depth

V M Murugan, a family member of the famous AVM Group with interests in films, music was found dead at his friend's house in Krishnanagar, Maduravoyal. He was 77.

His son Karthik Meyappan lodged a complaint with the Maduravoyal police that the family received a phone call from the family of his friend Vinayagam, 53, that Murugan had died of heart attack. Police said Murugan has been staying with Vinayagam for the past three days. Police quoted Vinayagam as saying that when he went to wake up Murugan on Monday morning, he was found dead. Police have registered a case of suspicious death and are awaiting the postmortem report to proceed with investigations.

The body was later handed over to the family. A V M Murugan was the eldest son of A V Meyyappa Chettiar. His body will be brought to AVM studios at 8am on Tuesday for the public and the film fraternity to pay their last respects.

Murugan is survived by his wife Ranjani, his son Karthik and daughters Angayarkanni and Latha. He was into film production and was in charge of the AVM Group's black and white film laboratory. He was also a writer and was the key person to set up the producers association.

The funeral will be held at Porur cemetery.